Small reflections on 2024

Originally published in our December newsletter. Sign up to our mailing list.

2024 has been a year of delivery and tangible progress for Small Foundation. The results of our continued investment in capacity and capability are evident in the increased number, breadth, and depth of our partnerships, the lessons we learned, and the advances we made in our data systems. Despite a backdrop of macroeconomic volatility and reduced global investment in Africa, our partners remain dedicated to advancing a thriving MSME ecosystem across the continent.

This year, we successfully finalised new partnerships across our investment, network, and research portfolios, including new phases of work with existing collaborators. Looking ahead, we are excited about the prospect of finalising an additional six partnerships early in the New Year.

In February, we hosted our inaugural partner gathering in Nairobi, which proved to be a meaningful and productive event. Together with our partners, we explored the theme of “reaching rural MSMEs”, fostering trust, understanding, and deeper connections while examining ecosystem dynamics and drivers.

We want to thank our partners for their hard work and unwavering commitment. As we look to 2025, we remain committed to working collaboratively to create meaningful and lasting change.

10 highlights from 2024

1. Our multimedia 2023 Impact Report featuring several partners, including Women in African Investments and 54 Collective, speaking about changes in the MSME financing ecosystem.
2. Emerald Africa Financing Facility, a Small Foundation-incubated initiative, invested in eight companies, which in turn made loans to over 15,000 MSMEs.
3. Our first ever partner gathering in February, aiming to increase ecosystem collaboration and impact through the power of convening.
4. Three new network partnerships launched: with A&A Collective, African Food Fellowship and GanzAfrica.
5. New phases of partnership with three networks: AMEA, AL for Agribusiness Network and London Africa.
6. New investments in The Alternative Bank to explore a new approach to agri-SME lending; and Untapped Global, which provides asset financing for underserved MSMEs.
7. Groundbreaking research we supported by Advancing Women in Investing, Regen Organics, Samawati Capital Partners, and Village Capital.
8. Three new ecosystem-building partnerships, with Samawati Capital Partners, Agri-SME Learning Collective and Alterfin.
9. We sought to better understand our reach and impact, through mapping our network portfolio and reflecting on our learnings about tracking system change.
10. Circle Generation launched a new podcast, supported by Small Foundation, on the intersection between systems, networks and foresight.

Image: Small Foundation team in Sandymount, Ireland. November 2024.